One of the wonders of the country is its diverse topography and most enticing landscape. Unlike many other countries, Ethiopia has one of the lowest points on earth, the Danakil Depression, a place that drops about a hundred meters below sea level, and one of the highest peaks, mount Ras Dashen that reaches over 4,600 meters. Between these two extremes, the country is much endowed with a variety of topographies that shaped the climatic regions of the nation. This is what provides nature wonderer tourists “all in one package” with a single tourist visa.
Ethiopia offers visitors diverse weather that include one of the most perplexing place on earth, commonly referred by local residents as “the place the devil plows” in the Danakil Depression where the heat is the highest in the world, the warm and pleasant temperature of the Great East African Rift Valley Region, temperate climate in the plateau region of the central highlands and a very cool weather that drops below Zero degree centigrade in the simian Mountains. A combination virtually nonexistent in any other country in the world!
With this highly diverse geographical setup, Ethiopia offers unique attractions to visitors, wonderful sceneries that remain in the memories of tourists for eternity. Let us start from the Danakil Depression situated neither in nor them Ethiopia. Martine Brusewitz, in his article that appeared in “Selamta” the in flight magazine of the Ethiopian Airlines, described Danakil Depression as “the cruelest place on earth, perhaps, a spectacular, beautiful, harsh place of endless desert, filery volcanoes and baking heat “the greatest spot of tourist attraction in the Danakil Depression is “Erta Ale”
Erta Ale means “smoking Mountain” in the local Afar language. it is a continuously active volcano in the Danakil Depression, the most active volcano in the country. Erta Le, a desert area spanning the border with Eritera, and the volcano itself is surrounded completely by an area below sea level, making it a relatively low-elevation volcano. It is known for being the longest existing lava lake. It is one of the four of its kind in the world.
Ajourney southward from the Danakil Depression takes to the lakes region of the Ethiopian Rift Valley, which is part of the Great East African Rift Valley. Before descending to the valley, however, it is worth mentioning a small town surrounded with several beautiful lakes called Bishoftu, beyond those lakes, stood the magnificent Mount Ziquala, home to ziquala Abo, one of the famous monasteries of the country know for attracting a great number of pilgrims from near and far away places. Owing to the stunning beauty of the place and its proximity to the capital Addis Ababa, Bishoftu is currently attracting tourist enticing lodge developers to the shores of its lakes.
The Rift Valley’s passage through Ethiopia is marked by a chain of eight lakes: Lake Abaya, Lake Chamo, Lake Zway, Lake Shala, Lake Koka, Lake Langano, Lake Abijatta and Lake Hawasa. Each of these lakes has its own special life and character and provides ideal habitats for the exuberant variety of flora and fauna that make the region a beautiful and exotic destination for tourists.
The Rift Valley is thought to have been the result of two parallel faults in the earth’s surface between which in distant geological time the crust was weakened and the land subsided. The vast continuous ranges that escort the 50 miles wide valley in both sides provide a stunning beauty of scenery for landscape wonderers.
Further journey to south west direction from the town of Hawasa, also home to lake Hawassa, leads to Arbaminch, another enticing destination landscape lovers. Arbaminch is a town that enjoys growing publicity amongst tourists traveling to cultural route of southern Ethiopia. It is situated at the foot of Chenha hills in one side and the famous Netch SAR National Park, and lake Abaya and lake chamo by the other.
To the southern end of the town found tourist hotels and lodges built along the natural borders of Arbaminch before the surface sharply falls several hundreds of meters where the two lakes and Natch sar National park lie further in a vast lowland. Sitting in the verandas of these hotels allow amazing scenery of lake Abaya and lake Chamo a landmark that divides the lakes locally known as “God’s Bridge” and the vast grass land of Naetch Sar National Park that lies beyond them. Sometimes as the night began to fall. One can hear the roar of lions coming from the national park while enjoying the beauty of the scenery.
A journey in search of the other contrast has still several options. Bale Mountains appear to be the first option for tourists wishing to breathe cool and fresh air after a tiring tour in the heat of the Omo Valley. Bale Mountains are the south end of the Ethiopian mountain chain that stretch to the east and northern regions of the country. It is famous for its highland vegetation, extreme greenery and endemic wildlife inside the Bale Mountain National park. The other most spectacular scenery where the land mass seem to have come closer to the sky is the simian Mountains in Northern part of the country. It is commonly referred to as the roof of Africa. As driving from Addis to Simien Mountains could be quite a distance, traveling by air can be taken as an option. Before reaching there, however, a stopover at the city of Bahar Dar provides another opportunity to visit wonderful scenery. The Blue Nile Falls.
The Blue Nile falls is a waterfall on the Blue Nail River situated 30 kms downstream from the town of Bahir Dar and Lake Tana. The falls are considered one of Ethiopia’s best known tourist attractions. It is also known as Tis Abay in Amharic, meaning “smoking water”. The falls are estimated to be between 40 and 45 meters high, consisting of four streams that originally varied from a trickle in the dry season to over 400 meters wide in the rainy season.
The Simen Mountains are some of the famous tourist destinations of Ethiopia owing to their national park which is home to some of the endemic wildlife including the Ethiopian Wolf, the walia ibex, and the Gelada Baboon. Nevertheless, it is also a great attraction for landscape wonderers. The stunning beauty of the rugged Simien Mountains lies on the amazing positioning of the hills one after another. The eye catching colors from the vegetation that cover the landmass and the white snow surfaced over the top of mount Ras Dashen, among others Like the other impassable terrains of the country, these mountains served as homes and shields to the patriots who defended the territorial integrity of the country from foreign invaders at various times in history.
These are just very brief descriptions of what distinctly position Ethiopia as a land of absolute contrast!